Page 130 of Silverbow
“The reports are unclear, Your Majesty.”
“It is your job to clarify the reports, Vrywel,” the king snapped.
Elling flinched, glad it would be the spymaster who would bear the brunt of Pallas’s ire today.
“Of course, Your Majesty. Is there a message you want delivered to the Prince of Ashes when he’s found?”
Elling stared at the stone, waiting, as Pallas Davolier drummed his fingers on the arm of his throne. “There is,” the king said flatly. “He can keep his sons of Eastwood, but remind him, the girl is mine. When you find her, put a bolt through her heart.”
Elling stared at the brown stone, hoping Oryn Brydove would make good on his threat first.
thirty-four
Oryn
Oryn had begrudgingly surrendered the room he shared with Enya to the stable boy and moved across the hall only because the window was surrounded by bare brick and an impossible drop. Bitterly, he wondered how Liam would like her incessant muttering. She hadn’t drunk nearly enough wine to quiet it, even if she did drink like a fish at dinner. The wine alone between Misthol and Drozia ought to amount to at least half a dragon.
He listened at his own door for the soft thud of her footfalls to recede down the hall. Long minutes passed before their door sighed open again and Liam’s heavier steps made to trail after her. Oryn flung his door open and reached into the hall. He seized a surprised Liam Marsh by the arm, dragging him into his room. To his credit, the boy looked him up and down and set his jaw in the same stubborn way Enya did; the way two people who spent so much time together often mirrored each other. Something about it pushed him closer to the edge he already teetered on.
The gods’ sudden retreat unsettled him almost as much as their initial interest had. Perhaps more unsettling was that somewhere along the road, his own emotions had gotten tangled with theirs, and now, with the gods quiet, her real name, and Hylee’s whispered secret, the desperation he felt to keep her safe was entirely his own.
Perhaps he could use the stable boy. Perhaps his affection for her could be wielded to prevent her from doing something truly reckless.
“What?” Liam asked gruffly.
“I assume she told you what it is we’re doing here.”
It was not a question, but the way his jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed all but confirmed it. Oryn was both relieved and agitated. He would find a way to get it out of the stable boy, but that she’d told Liam chafed.
Liam looked him up and down and leaned back against the door. He crossed his arms and huffed. “I see why she doesn’t like you.”
Oryn’s temper flared. “That’s rather bold,boy, when you both need me to get you to sanctuary.”
He shrugged and it was so much like Enya’s shrug, Oryn wanted to roar his frustration.
“Maybe. But whether or not we do it your way, you’ll do it all the same.”
Oryn hated that he was right, but he snarled, “What makes you so certain?”
Liam’s lips quirked to the side. “I suspect for the same reason you let her come here in the first place.”
“And what’s that?” Oryn hissed.
“Either you’re stringing her along for your own ends or she managed to wrap you around her finger.”
Oryn tried not to let his surprise register on his face. He didn’t know why he was surprised. Enya too had an uncanny way of swinging right for the heart of it. “Rich, coming from a boy who trailed her across the continent.”
That muscle in Liam’s jaw jumped again, but a slow smile inched across his face, “What exactly did you do to her to make her loathe you so?”
Oryn paused. He’d assumed she would be airing his secrets behind that closed door, but it seemed she hadn’t told her beloved Liam everything. “I did nothingto her,“ he growled. “I made some unfortunate choices in the past that contributed to current circumstances.”
The stable boy furrowed his brow. “Seems like a good reason not to meddle in her future.”
“I am trying to ensure she has a future.”
“Enya is capable of looking after herself.”
Enya was capable, he’d known that in Trowbridge, but she had a target on her back and no small affinity for danger. He should have said that, but instead, he hissed, “Then why did you come running after her?”
